If you are invited to a dinner by your Chinese counterpart either at his or her home or in a restaurant, where do you sit?
According to the traditional Chinese culture, the host seat is the one opposite to the door. The most important guest sits to the right of the host. The second important guest sits to the left of the host.
If you would like to invite your Chinese clients or business partners to a dinner, please arrange the seats as above-mentioned practice to show your understanding of Chinese culture and respect to them.
I accompanied some foreign clients to have dinner with their Chinese counterparts. A common embarrassing moment is that nobody starts to eat. The host is too shy to remind the guest of start eating and the foreign guest is waiting for the host to start. At Chinese round-table dinner, the most senior one starts to eat first. If the host and the guest are at the same level, the guest starts to eat first.
Last week I talked with one of my American friends about a party I attended and I won a lucky draw prize. Then he asked me: “What is lucky draw?”. I was surprised that he didn’t know what lucky draw is. It’s an English word, right?:-)
I explained what it is and he said:”oh. We call this Door Prize.” I asked:”There’s no English word like lucky draw?” He said:” at least he and his friends don’t know lucky draw.”
I searched on wiki. There is no such a word either. The definition of door prize from Wiki is:
“At a party or gathering, a door prize may be awarded to one or more persons attending, via a raffle or drawing. Prizes can be small things such as pens, bookmarks, and buttons or they can be larger, more expensive, items like gift baskets, cash, tickets to concerts, and sometimes even furniture.”
Who coined lucky draw? No idea:-) So many Chinese people are using it. Next time, I will use door prize when I talk to western friends and use lucky draw when talking to Chinese friends hehe.